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I would totally endorse this I think this is an excellent article. It encapsulates all mt feelings on the current cup format. I think the Falsons as a club get it right with the balance of players and I look forward to seeing up and coming youngsters, the result is an irrelevance really

I haven't been to a European game for a few years now as we don't take the competition seriously so why should I attend!!. The LV and A-league should be for player development not a European competition. Teams like ospreys, Quinn, Gloucester, brive, blues, bath and stade are taking the competition seriously and are reaping the rewards. I predicted the drumming off ospreys and it might be one of the lowest European games in memory. You've also got the financial side that the competition is part of the EQP percentage payment so teams like the Falcons, Bristol and warriors are using this competition as a cash cow. But with a business head on you can't blame them for using the competition to hit the RFU EQP percentage.

The interesting question would be if we got into the champions cup next season would the club take it for granted and watch teams like Toulon and Munster destroy the Falcons with ease or would we take the competition seriously?

With AW cup and A-league we should be making chick captain and bring him through that way. That's what sarries did with cruiz and itoje and it really has payed off

Thanks Monkey, interesting stuff. I agree that the Challenge Cup should be taken more seriously. One thing they could do is to give the winner an automatic spot in the Champions Cup, rather than having to go through playoffs with three other teams. Financial rewards would also help.

Quote:

This in my own old fashioned opinion is what these cup games are all about, a chance to get the more junior players some game time, assisted by some returning from injury, and enough experienced players so that the juniors will learn in a competitive environment.
This in my own old fashioned opinion is what these cup games are all about, a chance to get the more junior players some game time, assisted by some returning from injury, and enough experienced players so that the juniors will learn in a competitive environment.

Monkey

I'd say this is more a new-fashioned view - using cup games to give game time to fringe and young players. An old-fashioned view would be to play your best team in every single game to give you the best chance of winning.

As I said at the time of the drubbing in Wales, there's nothing like a cup run to generate excitement in a club, plus wins breed confidence and a huge amount of momentum builds up. Personally I was really dissappointed that the towel was thrown in almost from the off. The totally pointless (but that's for another thread) Anglo Welsh cup should be for playing fringe players, youngsters and sickness returnees until someone can come up with a domestic competition that gets people's interest.

Ospreys seemed to get a bit of stick for fielding such a strong team at the time, never really understood why, good on them, they were taking the competition seriously.

Can't argue with the Falcons concentrating on finishing as high up in the league as possible as they've been stuck in the bottom two for so long. But the drawback of going out of both cups is that the players and supporters have too little rugby. There's a gap of 20 days when the Falcons have no games at all and a gap of 5 weeks between home games.

If I remember correctly, the Anglo-Welsh cup replaced the old Powergen Cup (for English clubs only). Falcons won this trophy at Twickenham on two glorious occasions (V Harlequins and Sale). My memory is that the rounds of that competition were well llttended and the tournament built a lot of excitement and interest among the Falcons' fans. I wonder if resurrecting that competition at the expense of the Anglo-Welsh might be worth considering?

FalconfanIf I remember correctly, the Anglo-Welsh cup replaced the old Powergen Cup (for English clubs only). Falcons won this trophy at Twickenham on two glorious occasions (V Harlequins and Sale). My memory is that the rounds of that competition were well llttended and the tournament built a lot of excitement and interest among the Falcons' fans. I wonder if resurrecting that competition at the expense of the Anglo-Welsh might be worth considering?

Bar the safety considerations of having professional players potentially playing against amateurs, there's not much chance of convincing the clubs to abandon a competition that guarantees them two home games in favour of one in which they are not guaranteed any. It's a shame but it's reality.

Those two cup wins and even the loss against Wasps a few years before were fantastic days out (or weekend out actually!) and it's a shame the club doesn't try and replicate those cup runs.

Supposedly the Anglo Welsh cup was to help our Welsh friends' finances but I may have taken that wrongly. As for the old Powergen / Tetley Bitter cup, it was a great way of mixing the lower league teams against the big boys. I'm sure one of our cup finals had our way paved by a lower league team beating Wasps in the quarter final.

Whether there is any appetite amongst the elite teams is probably doubtful, but can you imagine Blaydon or Mowden Park getting drawn against an AP side!

Things were very different 12 - 15 years ago. The game had not long been professional and the gulf between the leagues were not so great. As Leipy mentions above, pitting amateurs such as Pertemps Bees against any Premiership side would be ludicrously dangerous.

Exiled FalconThose two cup wins and even the loss against Wasps a few years before were fantastic days out (or weekend out actually!) and it's a shame the club doesn't try and replicate those cup runs.
Supposedly the Anglo Welsh cup was to help our Welsh friends' finances but I may have taken that wrongly. As for the old Powergen / Tetley Bitter cup, it was a great way of mixing the lower league teams against the big boys. I'm sure one of our cup finals had our way paved by a lower league team beating Wasps in the quarter final.

Whether there is any appetite amongst the elite teams is probably doubtful, but can you imagine Blaydon or Mowden Park getting drawn against an AP side!

It was Solihull who beat Wasps and met us in the semi. We treated them with respect by fielding a full strength side and giving them a right old thumping.

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